Unbuilt Atom Smasher Sets Off Collision in West

By KEITH SCHNEIDER, Special to the New York Times

Published: October 25, 1987

WINTERS, Calif.—
The seasonal rituals of production and the quiet self-confidence of many farmers have been shaken here in California's Central Valley, where straight roads and deep creeks run past miles of walnut groves and peach orchards.

The cause of the tremors is a proposal to build an immense atom smasher on a 600-square-mile chunk of land bordering this drowsy, sun-bright town of 3,500 people.

The plan has locked farmers, business people and civic leaders in a divisive debate over the future of this lush valley. It is a region that has long been distinguished by the fertility of its soil, the quality of its nuts and fruits and its strategic marketing location between Sacramento and San Francisco. Battles in Other States

Some farmers, who oppose the project, are working eight hours a day to draw attention to the fight. Supporters of the plan are trying to minimize the strength of the opposition to this site, one of two recommended by California officials for the Federal Government's construction of Superconducting Super Collider, the largest construction project for pure research ever proposed. The reason is simple: Among the criteria being judged by the Department of Energy, which is paying for the atom smasher, is the level of community support.

The battle here over the super collider is not the only being fought. A similar struggle is building outside Stockton, 40 miles south of Sacramento, near the second site for the collider that was chosen by California. And skirmishes have occurred in New York, and near Spokane, Wash.

The plans call for a 53-mile-long underground tunnel, an oval lined with powerful magnets. Beams of atomic particles will be accelerated in opposite directions at nearly the speed of light and then collided head-on, producing great bursts of energy. Amid the debris, scientists hope to discover new classes of subatomic particles that could hold the answers to longstanding questions about matter, energy, space and time. A $6 Billion Project

California was one of 25 states that applied last month to the Department of Energy to be chosen as the site of the $6 billion project. The winning state could reap more than $500 million annually in taxes by the year 2000, and it is estimated that the project will generate 11,500 jobs in 1991, the peak construction year. California is considered to be one of the leaders in the competition along with New York, Texas, Illinois and Colorado.

Although most of the collider project will be built underground, the Government said it intended to take control of 8,000 acres of prime farm land on the surface for a research campus and other purposes. Many farmers in California fear that much of this land would be taken out of production.

Farmers and local residents argue that the 20,000 people who would settle in the area of the atom smasher would cause traffic jams, air pollution and other urban ills.

Meanwhile, supporters of the project, including many business leaders, assert that the Federal project would diversify and strengthen the region's economy. Protests in Upstate New York

Similar arguments were heard this month in New York, where thousands of residents protested the proposed collider site near Newburgh, N.Y. The site, which straddles Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties, is one of four that New York offered. Opponents said the project would force 2,000 area residents to relocate. On Oct. 14 the state withdraw the three-county area as a collider site.

Two of the other sites in New York are in the area of Malone, near the Quebec border, and the third is near Palmyra, in the Rochester area. New Jersey and Connecticut did not propose sites.

In California's Central Valley, the battle over the collider has matched two young leaders, both 37 years old, against each other. They are Craig McNamara, a walnut grower who lives near Winters, and Foy McNaughton, publisher of The Davis Enterprise, a daily newspaper.

Last spring Mr. McNamara, the son of Robert S. McNamara, the Secretary of Defense under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, discovered that 120 of his 520 acres could be condemned and taken over by the state if the atom smasher was built in his area. He and several neighbors then organized the Super Collider Action Committee.

Mr. McNamara contends that the atom smasher would cause irreparable harm to the region's farm-based economy, forever changing the quality of life in Yolo and Solano counties. #10,000 Sign Petitions Last summer, Mr. McNamara's group collected 10,000 signatures on a petition opposing the project. The boards of directors of the statewide California Farm Bureau and the local Yolo County Farm Bureau are also opposing the proposed site near Winters.

Perhaps Mr. McNamara's most persuasive arguments are based on data from an extensive collection of geological data compiled by the state and Federal governments. The scientific studies indicate that if the collider is built in Mr. McNamara's backyard, it would sit in the middle of several known geological fault zones that have produced powerful earthquakes.

''If this thing moves one inch, it's ruined,'' said Mr. McNamara. ''That would be a waste for us and for the American people.''

Less than 10 miles east of Mr. McNamara's farm, Mr. McNaughton, the newspaper publisher, mans his own battle station. He contends that data from the Census Bureau show that the Central Valley is among the fastest growing regions in California and that the project would not have a dramatic effect on population growth.

Mr. McNaughton argues that the collider project would attract some of the brightest minds in the world and improve the region's economy by attracting clean and high-technology businesses.

Last month, Mr. McNaughton and local business leaders formed their own group, the Super Collider for America Committee. He said the group would try to counter the belief that there was widespread resentment to the project in northern California.

''The other group has been very effective in giving the impression back East that there is strong resistance,'' said Mr. McNaughton. ''If the feeling in the East is that there is a controversy, it could influence those people making the decision. We're afraid of that.''

The Energy Department plans to narrow its list to five sites next July. The final site is expected to be selected in January 1989.

Photos of Foy McNaughton; Craig McNamara with his wife, Julie, and sons, Sean and Graham, outside their home near Winters, Calif; a tree drive on McNamara farm (NYT/Terrence McCarthy)